AX 


ADDRESS 


DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE 


'^>)lijniantji   Caimti)   ilgrintltnral    .Inrirti}, 


AT    THKIR 


ANNUAL     EXHIBITION, 


IN  THK   TOWN    OF    BRIDGEWATER. 


SEPT.  25,  1850. 


liY     CHARLES     T.     JACKSON.   M.  D.. 

Cfinnlt'er  tie  la  Legion  d  Honneur. 

Assayer  to  the  State  of  Massachusetts.    Late  (Jeologist  to  Maine,  \ew  Hampshire.  Rhode  IsIanJ, 

ana  the  United  States.    Member  of  the  Geological  Society  of  France,  of  the  Imperial 

Mineralogical  Society  of  St.  Petersburg,  etc.,  etc. 


E  C)  ?<  T  O  N: 
PRINTED    BY    CHARLES    C.    P.    MOODY, 

5  2     W'A  SIC  I  NOT  ON     STKKET. 

1850. 


AN 


ADDRESS 


DELIVERED    BEFOKE    THE 


^.Mijniontlj   Cnimtij   5lgririilturnl    ?nrirtij, 


AT    TUEIR 


ANNUAL     EXHIBITION, 


IN  THE   TOWN   OF   BRIDGEWATER, 


SEPT.  25,  1850. 


By    CHARLES    T.    JACKSON,  M.  D., 

Chevalier  de  la  Legion  cP  Honneur. 

Assayer  to  the  State  of  Massachusetts.    Late  Geologist  to  Maine,  New  Ilampshire,  Rhode  Tsland, 

and  the  United  States.    Member  of  the  Geological  Society  of  France,  of  the  Imperial 

Mineralogical  Society  of  St.  Petersburg,  etc.,  etc. 


BOSTON: 
PRINTED    BY    CHARLES    C.    P.    MOODY, 

52    WASHINGTON    STREET. 

1850. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Plymouth  County  Agricultural  Society, 
at  Bridge  water,  on  the  25th  of  September,  1850  — 

"  Toted,  "  That  the  thanks  of  the  Trustees  be  presented  to  Dr.  Jackson, 
of  Boston,  for  his  able  and  eloquent  address,  this  day  delivered  before  the 
Ph-mouth  County  Agricultural  Society,  and  that  he  be  requested  to  furnish 
a  copy  for  publication." 

JESSE  PERKI^'S,  Sec'y. 
A  true  copy.     Attest, 

JESSE  PERKIXS,  Sec'y 


Boston,  Dec.  2d,  1850. 
To  The  Trustees  of  the  Plymouth  County  Agricultural  Society. 
Gentlemen  :  — In  compliance  with  your  request,  I  furnish   a  copy  of  the 
address  I  had  the   honor  to  deliver  before  your  Society,  on  the  25th  of  Sep- 
tember last. 

Respectfully, 

Your  Ob't.  Servant, 

CHARLES  T.  JACKSON 


ADDRESS. 


Mr.  President,  and 

Gentlemen  of  the  Agricultural  Society:  — 

I  HAVE  been  called  upon  to  address  you  as  a  former  inhabi- 
tant of  this  county,  and  as  one  deeply  interested  in  its  welfare. 

Without  making  any  pretensions  to  the  rank  of  a  practical 
farmer,  I  may  claim  to  be  somewhat  conversant  with  the  ope- 
rations of  many  of  the  best  Agriculturists  of  New  Engh\nd,  and 
to  be  intimately  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  soils  of  sev- 
eral of  the  States  which  it  was  my  duty  as  the  State  Geologist 
to  Maine,  Rhode  Island,  and  New  Hampshire,  to  examine. 

By  attentive  study  in  the  fields  with  practical  farmers,  I  have 
endeavored  to  discover  how  a  chemist  could  best  serve  them, 
while  at  the  same  time  I  have  learned  how  to  appreciate  their 
skill,  enterprise,  and  industry,  in  overcoming  those  obstacles 
which  are  presented  by  our  comparatively  poor  soils  and  severe 
climate. 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  be  able  to  state  that  I  have 
found  every  where  in  those  States  which  I  have  examined,  the 
most  praiseworthy  desire  for  improvement  in  the  science  of 
Agriculture,  and  a  readiness  to  engage  in  any  experiments  that 
gave  reasonable  promise  of  success.  The  universal  comfort 
and  general  prosperity  of  oin-  New  England  farmers,  indicates 
that  they  do  not  toil  in  vain,  and  that  they  are  generally  suc- 
cessful in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  offer  a  mere  eulogy  upon  the  art  of 
Agriculture,  or  to  present  any  apology  for  the  first  and  most 
important  of  human  labors.  We  have  learned  from  the  most 
ancient  records  that  the  Creator  of  the  world  planted  the  first 
seed,  and  commanded  our  first  parents  to  keep  the  garden,  and 
to  "  till  the  ground,"  and  it  has  pleased  Him  so  to  prepare  the 
earth  as  to  render  its  cultivation  necessary,  in  all  time  :  tlius  by 
a  permanent  law  of  nature,  establishing  forever  tlu;  art  of  Ag- 
riculture. 

By  endowing  man  with  reasoning  powers,  and  placing  within 
his  reach  the  means  of  improvement,  a  constant  necessity  re- 
quires man  to  improve  the  earth,  as  well  as  his  own  mind,  and 
add  to  the  productiveness  of  the  soil,  as  he  replenishes  the  earth 
and  multiplies  its  population. 


It  is  the  glory  of  your  noble  art,  that  it  possesses  almost  cre- 
ative powers. 

Not  onlv  has  every  seed  been  made  to  produce  "  after  its 
kind,"  but  also  to  yield  still  other  kinds  ;  not  indeed  new  spe- 
cies, but  varieties  so  improved  that  they  cannot  by  all  the  skill 
of  science  be  identified  with  the  wild  plants  from  which  they 
originated.  Who  can  point  out  the  native  or  original  wild 
grasses,  from  which  our  cereal  grains  have  been  produced  ?  — 
Botanists  have  suggested  that  they  must  have  had  such  or- 
igins, but  they  have  not  been  able  to  identify  the  particular 
species  of  gi-asses  from  which  wheat,  barley,  rye,  and  oats, 
have  been  derived. 

Our  large,  plump,  juicy,  and  mellow  apples,  are  all  said  to 
have  originated  from  the  bitter  and  sour  wild  crab  apple, 
which  differs  so  much  from  them  that  it  is  difficult  for  us  to 
conceive  how  those  rich  fruits  were  derived  from  so  humble  an 
origin. 

From  an  insignificant  and  almost  tasteless  wild  fruit,  origi- 
nated all  our  numerous  varieties  of  delicious  pears. 

Our  large,  plump,  and  luscious  peach,  would  blush  at  seeing 
its  dry,  withered  and  bitter  father ;  —  and  our  juicy  plums  would 
be  slow  (sloe)*  to  recognize  theirs.  The  apricot  and  nectarine 
cannot  boast  of  the  excellence  of  then*  ancestors.  The  apri- 
cot is  said  to  be  a  variety  of  the  peach. 

From  nauseous  and  poison  \veeds  have  many  of  our  garden 
vegetables  sprung.  The  tender  and  juicy  asparagus  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been,  originally,  a  bitter  and  disagreeable  plant, 
growing  upon  the  sandy  shores  of  the  sea.  The  cabbage,  with 
its  head  full  of  tender  and  highly  nutritious  leaves,  was  originaUy 
a  weed  growing  in  meadows  by  the  sea  shore,  and  the  delicate 
cauliflower  has  no  better  parentage. 

*  The  common  plum  is  said  to  have  been  derived  from  the  sloe.  The  nec- 
tarine is  considered  by  some  botanists  as  a  distinct  species  ;  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  on  this  point,  as  the  peach  itself  is  nothing  more  than  an  improved,  or 
fleshy  almond,  which  bears  a  similar  relation  to  the  peach  and  nectarine,  as  the 
crab  does  to  the  apple,  and  the  sloe  to  the  plum. 

To  prove  that  the  peach  and  nectarine  are  essentially  the  same,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  fruits  of  both  have  been  found  on  the  same  branch  ;  and  even 
an  instance  is  recorded,  where  a  fruit  had  the  smooth  surface  of  the  nectarine 
on  one  side,  and  the  downy  skin  of  the  peach  on  the  other. — Trees  of  America, 
natire  and  foreign,  hy  D.  J.  Browne,  P.  230.  Most  of  the  cultivated  plums, 
damsons,  ami  gages,  are  varieties  ofthep-u?ius  domestica,  L.,  the  cultivated 
plum  tree.  It  is  found  growing  wild  in  elevated  situations  in  Europe.  [De 
Candolle  Prod..  533.]  This  species,  as  also  the  P.  insdtitia,  are  considered  by 
some  botanists  as  varieties  of  the  sloe  thorn,  P.  spinosa,  which  is  usually  a 
thorny  shrub  or  small  tree. — Pteport  on  trees  and  shrubs  of  Massaclmsetts,  by 
Geo.  B.  Emerson,  Esq.,  p.  448. 


Our  mealy  potatoe  belongs  to  the  same  family  with  the 
deadly  nightshade,  and  in  its  wild  state,  was  an  insignificant 
plant,  with  little  tubers  not  worth  digging  from  the  earth,  or  of 
eating  \viien  they  were  dug. 

The  onion  was  a  nauseous  shore  plant,  growing  in  the  sand, 
like  its  relation  the  medicinal  squills. 

Parsnips,  turnips  and  carrots,  in  their  wild  state,  were  also 
strong,  unpalatable  roots,  unfit  for  food. 

From  small  beginnings  came  our  plump,  cereal  giains,  our 
rich,  juicy,  and  delicious  fruits,  our  nutritious  esculents,  and  sa- 
vory garden  vegetables. 

Who,  as  it  were,  created  wheat,  barley  and  rye,  or  first  ])nt 
the  wild  Iruits  and  vegetables  in  the  way  of  improvement,  we 
may  never  know. 

The  ancients  ascribed  these  creations  to  mythological  deities, 
and  thus  did  the  farmers  injustice,  unless  indeed  they  meant 
by  their  fables  to  deify  them,  and  exalt  their  labors. 

It  may  be  justly  claimed  that  these  great  agricultural  im- 
provements were  the  work  of  heads  and  hands  of  mortal  men 
like  yourselves;  —  men  engaged  in  practical  agriculture  ;  men 
of  genius  who  believed  in  improvement,  and  bravely  set  about 
the  work  in  good  earnest. 

Have  we  reached  the  end  ?  Are  the  powers  of  nature  ex- 
hausted ?  Or  shall  new  and  valuable  varieties  of  fruits,  grains, 
bulbs,  tubers,  and  esculent  roots,  and  other  delicate  and  nourish- 
ing plants  and  fruits  reward  the  labors  of  the  experimental 
agriculturist  ? 

Perhaps  it  may  not  be  our  good  fortune  to  witness  any 
startling  result,  or  any  very  wonderful  improvement  arising 
from  the  transient  experiments  made  in  our  dav  ;  but  who  will 
say  what  will  be  the  effects  of  time,  and  a  continually  improv- 
ing culture  ? 

Have  we  not  seen  improvements  made  in  a  few  years  that 
encourage  us  to  expect  others  ?  How  endless  are  the  varieties 
of  Indian  corn,  {zea  mai/s,)  all  of  which  have,  it  is  supposed, 
been  produced  from  a  single  species. 

Have  not  new  varieties  of  fruits  been  ))ro(lncec1.  not  onlv 
from  seeds,  but  also  by  skilful  graftiiig  and  budding,  with  gooJl 
and  appropriate  cultivation  of  the  soil  ?  Certainly  we  do  see,  in 
our  market  places,  fruits,  that  have  been  so  improved  within  the 
last  half  century,  as  to  deserve  new  names,  expressive  of  ex- 
cellence. 

I  would  suggest  to  you  that  it  is  highly  probable  that  the 
wild  rice  of  the  lakes  and  rivers  in  the  nortli  western  portions  of 
the  United  States,  which  is  a  highly  nutritioi^s  grain  and  very 


prolific,  now  feeding  myriads  of  wdld  geese,  ducks,  pigeons  and 
other  birds,  and  supplying  \\'inter  food  to  the  Indian  hunter, 
might  be  advantageously  introduced  into  our  flowed  mead- 
ows, and  be  improved  by  cultivation.  The  wild  sea  kale*  has 
been  successfuUy  cultivated  in  Em*ope,  and  is  now  extensively 
used  for  food. 

How  many  other  wild  plants  there  may  be  in  this  and  other 
countries,  that  might  be  inti-oduced  and  cultivated  in  our  fields, 
I  do  not  know,  but  I  believe  there  is  still  room  for  improve- 
ment, and  the  mind  of  the  American  farmer  is  active,  enterpri- 
sing, and  capable  of  as  great  discoveries  as  have  been  made  in 
their  art,  in  any  portion  of  the  world. 

Progress  is  a  law  of  nature.  From  the  earliest  dawn  of  cre- 
ation, there  has  been  a  constant  series  of  improvements  in  pro- 
gress. Geology  reveals  that  the  lower  orders  of  sensitive  beings 
gave  way  to  those  of  a  higher  grade,  until  the  last  term  of  phys- 
ical creation  was  attained  in  the  creation  of  man,  whose  im- 
provement, as  a  rational  creature,  and  an  immortal  soul,  is  still 
destined  to  be  onward  and  upward. 

In  celestial  space,  progress  is  also  indicated,  and  though  we 
may  not  comprehend  its  end  and  uses,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  other  plans  and  operations  of  the 
All-wise  Creator.  Astronomers  have  discoA'ered  that  no  planet 
ever  traverses  again  the  same  path,  and  that  the  whole  solar 
system,  with  its  sun  and  magnificent  train  of  worlds,  is  con- 
stantly translated  into  new  regions  of  space.  It  is  believed  by 
some  astronomers,  that  there  is  a  central  sun  around  which  our 
solar  system  revolves,  and  that  this  imaginary  sun  is  also  mov- 
ing onward  in  space.  Our  whole  solar  system  is  said  to  be 
moving  toward  the  constellation  Hercules. 

A  desire  in  the  human  mind  merely  to  repeat  the  thoughts 
and  operations  of  others,  indicates  at  best  an  unworthy  indo- 
lence. Conservatism  in  error  is  obviously  a  folly,  and  our  ad- 
hesion to  a  custom  merely  because  it  is  old,  or  considered 
established,  in  this  world  of  change,  is  an  absurdity. 

We  should  keep  our  minds  open  for  the  reception  of  every 
new  truth,  treasure  up  every  new  fact  and  principle,  and  test 
their  value  whenever  opportunity  offers,  or  promise  of  success  is 
reasonable. 

I  would  not  advise  the  running  after  every  project  because  it 
is  new,  nor  would  I  denounce  a  rational  conservatism,  but  we 
should  be  cautious  not  to  deny  everything  that  does  not  chance 
to  have  fallen  within  our  own  personal  experience. 

*  The  sea  kale  is  extensively  cultivated  in  Enjrland,  and  is  highly  valued  as 
a  substitute  for  asparagus.  It  has  been  cultivated  by  some  gardeners  in  this 
country.     Teschemacher  (oral  comm.) 


The  new  and  startling  discoveries  which  burst  upon  the  world, 
from  time  to  time,  warn  us  that  we  may  not  have  known  every- 


thing belore. 


Agriculture  presents  still,  a  field  where  advantageous  improve- 
ments may  be  made,  by  the  aid  of  the  modern  sciences,  and  we 
may  look  to  chemistry  for  most  valuable  assistance  in  unfolding 
the  mysteries  of  the  vegetable  economy,  and  in  explaining  the 
relations  of  the  soil  and  atmosphere  to  plants,  and  in  learning 
the  influence  of  various  substances  upon  the  growth  of  our 
usual  crops. 

How  far  we  may  be  able  to  prepare  the  soil  for  particular 
crops  by  sjjecial  manures  or  fertilizers  ;  — how  far  this  may  be 
done  economically,  is  one  of  the  questions  now  before  the 
world.  Whether  it  is  better  to  make  our  fertilizing  matters 
highly  soluble,  and  to  add  them  to  the  soil  more  frequently,  or 
to  render  them  comparatively  insoluble,  and  allow  plants  slowly 
to  appropriate  them,  is  a  subject  of  high  importance  in  econom- 
ical agriculture,  and  is  one  which  will  occupy  our  special 
attention. 

By  chemical  analysis  of  the  crops,  grown  upon  any  soil,  we 
are  enabled  to  discover  exactly  how  much  of  each  ingi-edient, 
essential  to  the  growth  of  plants,  has  been  removed  from  it, 
and,  if  we  sell  the  produce  of  the  land,  we  should  estimate  the 
nature  and  amount  of  the  mineral  salts  we  have  removed,  in 
order  to  enable  us  to  restore,  in  some  form,  those  ingredients  to 
the  soil,  which  would  be  ultimately  exhausted  if  this  were  not 
done. 

By  analysis  of  the  soil,  we  learn  how  much  of  each  of  these 
ingredients  exists  in  it,  and  by  comparison,  of  the  analyses  offer- 
tile  with  those  of  exhausted  soils,  the  exact  difference  may 
be  pointed  out,  and  the  deficient  ingredients  may  be  supplied 
so  as  to  renovate  the  soil. 

Chemical  science  is  able  to  discover  the  cheapest  and  best 
methods  of  rendering  soils  fertile,  and  not  unfrequently  the 
sources  from  whence  the  wanting  ingredients  may  be  obtained, 
by  simple  processes,  may  be  indicated. 

In  order  to  renovate  a  soil,  by  restoring  the  substances  re- 
moved from  it  by  crops,  we  must  consider  what  state  the  mat- 
ters should  be  in,  for  the  production  of  the  best  effects,  and  for 
long  continued  action.  This  requires  the  joint  efl'orts  of  the 
chemist  and  farmer ;  for  practical  experiments  in  the  field  are 
necessary  for  the  verification  of  the  researches  made  in  the  la- 
boratory ;  and  several  years,  or  an  entire  rotation  of  crops  is 
needed,  to  render  the  value  of  a  new  method  of  manuring 
certain. 


By  hasty  generalizations  and  mere  dogmatism,  some  wTiters 
on  Agricultural  Chemistry  have  disappointed  and  disgusted 
many  sensible  practical  farmers,  and  the  reproaches  which 
have  been  cast  on  book  farming  are  too  often  well  merited  ; 
but  they  should  be  referred  to  the  book  makers,  and  not  to  the 
science  of  Agriculture,  which  is  not  responsible  for  the  eiTors 
of  all  its  votaries,  whether  in  the  laboratory,  the  garden,  or 
the  field.  The  farmer  requires  some  knowledge  of  the  science 
of  chemistry,  to  be  able  to  judge  of  the  value  of  books  treating  of 
the  chemical  principles  of  his  art,  and  to  enable  him  to  under- 
stand and  apply  the  results  of  analytic  investigations  in  his  prac- 
tical operations.  His  defective  knowledge  often  stands  in  the 
way  of  successful  improvements,  and  he  is  obliged  to  restrict  his 
operations  to  the  mere  following  of  specific  directions,  instead 
of  having  all  the  latitude  that  chemical  principles  would  allow. 
It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  old  farmers  will  go  to  school 
again  to  learn  the  principles  of  the  modern  sciences  applicable 
to  Agriculture.  Some,  whose  taste  leads  them  to  scientific 
reading,  will  doubtless  endeavor  to  keep  up  with  the  progress 
of  science,  and  inform  themselves  of  what  is  going  on.  A 
few  only  will  be  found,  whose  opportunities  will  enable  them 
to  become  proficient  in  the  chemistry  of  Agriculture,  so  as  to 
make  a  safe  and  practical  use  of  the  information  they  may 
obtain  from  books  on  Chemistry. 

An  improvement,  once  introduced,  may  often  be  practically 
adopted  and  followed  by  those  who  do  not  understand  the 
principles  on  which  it  depends,  so  that  one  enterprising  man 
may  not  unfrequently  do  much  good  in  his  neighborhood  by 
instructing,  by  experimental  labors,  his  brother  farmers. 

To  the  rising  generation  —  the  young  men  who  will  ere  long 
occupy  your  places  —  we  must  look  for  students  in  Agricul- 
tural Chemistry.  They  should  be  taught  thoroughly  all  those 
principles  of  science  that  can  be  rendered  available  in  Agricul- 
ture. For  them,  agricultural  schools  should  be  established  on  a 
liberal  scale,  and  every  opportunity  that  could  be  desired  for 
learning  the  sciences  of  Chemistry,  Mineralogy,  Geology,  Bot- 
any, Zoology,  and  the  principles  and  practice  of  Surveying, 
with  the  application  of  those  sciences  to  the  business  of  prac- 
tical farming. 

While  we  have  good  and  liberally  endowed  colleges  for 
the  education  of  young  men  for  the  other  professions,  it 
is  to  be  regretted  that  no  institutions  exist  in  our  coun- 
try for  the  education  of  young  farmers  in  the  sciences  applica- 
ble to  rational  and  practical  Agriculture.  This  deficiency,  I 
trust,  will  ere  long  be  supplied  by  the  establishment  of  agri- 


cultural  schools,  upon  a  basis  commensurate  with  the  magni- 
tude and  importance  of  the  subject. 

It  will  not  be  advisable  to  plant  such  institutions  under  the 
shade  ol  our  classical  colleges.  They  will  never  flourish  there  j 
for  other  studies  of  a  different  natur(>,  ajipropriate  to  their  edu- 
cational establishments,  occupy  their  attention  —  and  tlu;  leaves 
of  ancient  literature  cast  too  deep  a  shade  to  admit  of  the 
growth  of  modern  science  in  the  academic  groves.* 

An  agricultural  school  shonld  be  of  an  eminently  practical 
character  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  conmuinity.  Every  prin- 
ciple taught  should  be  iitunediately  practic-ally  illustrated,  and 
the  pupil  should  be  required  to  repeat  every  operation  until  he 
becomes  familiar  with  it,  and  thus  fixes  the  principle  and  mode 
of  operation  indelibly  in  his  memory.  In  the  field  he  should 
be  required  to  work  with  his  own  hands  ;  whether  with  the 
plough  or  the  compass,  he  should  become  familiar  with  his  tools. 
So  also  in  the  laboratory  he  should  be  required  to  do  his  ow^n 
work,  and  in  the  dissecting  room  should  learn  the  anatomy  of 
animals,  and  in  the  garden  and  study,  that  of  plants.  Much 
good  will  result  from  the  establishment  of  thoroughly  scientific 
and  practical  agricultural  schools,  and  it  is  highly  desirable 
that  the  experiment  should  be  made  forthwith.  I  am  confi- 
dent such  institutions  will  be  sustained  by  the  people. 

The  imperfect  state  of  American  Agriculture,  and  the  destruc- 
tive system  of  exhaustion  of  our  soils  by  methods  now  too 
extensively  in  operation,  sufficiently  indicate  the  necessity 
of  an  immediate  reform.  Look  on  the  numerous  exhausted 
or  impoverished  fields  of  Eastern  Virginia,  and  to  the  dimin- 
ishing fertility  of  the  wheat  lands   of  New  York,  and  other 


*  Tliero  is  no  time  to  be  spared,  from  the  usual  college  course  of  study,  for 
the  purt^uit  of  the  sciences  connected  with  Agrlcultui-e,  lu  a  tliorough  i)ractical 
way,  and  no  other  method  of  studyiuix  them  will  piove  of  any  j)ennanent 
value.  "There  are  in  the  whole  four  years,  one  hundred  and  sixty  weeks  of 
study.  SupjKise  the  student  pursues  twenty  of  these  branches  of  learning, 
[tlie  usual  college  course,]  this  will  allow  eight  weeks  to  each.  Seven-eighths 
of  the  first  year,  and  one  half  of  the  second,  are  devoted  to  Latin,  (jreek,  and 
Mithemvtics.  If  we  subtract  this  amount  —  fifty-five  weeks  from  one  hundred 
and  sixty  —  it  leaves  one  hundred  and  five  weeks  to  be  devoted  to  the  rc- 
miinder.  This  will  give  us  six  weeks  and  a  fraction  to  each  of  the  other 
studies.  But  this  is  not  all.  In  oider  to  introduce  so  many  sciences  into  (he 
period  of  four  years,  the  student  is  freipu'ntly  obliged  to  carry  on  live  or  six 
at  the  same  time  ;  some  occupying  him  three  times,  others  twice,  and  others 
on -e  in  a  week  In  this  manner  all  continuity  of  thouyhc  is  interrupted,  and 
literary  enthusiasm  rendered  almost  impos.sil)le.  Such  has,  to  a  greater  or  less 
deiree,  been  tlie  eour-e  pursued  by  all  our  colleges." —  Presiilcnt  Wni/lancTt 
Report  to  the  Corporation  of  Brown  Universily,  March  2Sth,  1850,  p.  lo. 

2 


10 

States,  and  you  will  see  that  there  is  something  wrong  in  the 
systems  pursued.  You  are  doubtless  aw^are  of  some  of  the 
causes  which  are  effecting  this  exhaustion  of  the  soil,  and 
know  that  it  results  from  the  continual  removal  of  certain  in- 
gredients from  the  soil,  and  seUing  them  in  the  form  of  grain 
and  flour,  wdthout  restoring  to  it  similar  substances. 

By  the  analysis  of  gi-ain  we  learn  what  has  been  removed 
by  it,  and  by  a  knowledge  of  chemistry  w^e  may  learn  how  to 
restore  the  requisite  elements  to  an  exhausted  or  impoverished 
soil,  so  as  to  render  it  perpetually  fertile,  even  to  the  same 
crops. 

Chemistry  teaches  the  cheapeat  methods,  and  prevents  waste- 
ful empirical  experiments. 

Already,  by  chemical  analysis  of  the  ashes  of  tobacco,  the 
Virginia  planter  has  learned  how  to  renovate  his  soil  that  had 
been  exhausted  by  numerous  crops  of  that  plant.  And  the 
cotton  planters  of  the  Southern  States  have  caused  analyses  of 
cotton  and  of  the  seed  of  that  plant  to  be  made,  with  a  view 
to  supplying  the  materials  removed  by  it  from  the  soil. 

It  wnll  not  be  long  before  our  farmers,  generally,  will  learn 
how^  to  restore  to  fertihty  soils  that  have  been,  in  a  measure, 
impoverished  by  long  cropping ;  and  the  Western  farmers, 
instead  of  abandoning  Iheir  homes  and  pushing  farther  w^est 
in  search  of  virgin  soils  for  the  growth  of  wheat,  will  obtain 
still  larger  crops  from  their  old  wheat  fields,  and  do  so  without 
so  much  labor  as  before. 

You  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  wheat  was  once  profitably 
raised  in  this  State  ;  and  that  now,  although  some  few  disti-icts 
are  favorable  for  its  growth,  that  it  cannot  be  generally  raised 
on  our  soils.  This  was  pretty  effectually  proved  by  the  unfor- 
tunate law,  offering  a  bounty  on  wiieat  grown  in  the  State, 
which  resulted  in  large  crops  of  nearly  worthless  straw.  It 
w^as  interesting  to  the  geologist  and  chemist  to  observe  in 
what  particular  districts  the  wheat  crop  did  prove  successful, 
and  important  hints  were  derived  from  those  observations.  It 
is  a  question  of  considerable  practical  importance  to  know^,  by 
carefully  conducted  experiments,  wdiether  our  granite  soils  can 
be  so  improved  as  to  render  them  capable  of  bearing  good 
crops  of  wdieat,  and  wiicther  this  can  be  done  economically. 

Indian  corn  is  now  known  to  be  best  adapted  to  those  soils ; 
but  even  that  crop  will  exhaust  the  soil,  if  we  do  not  take  care 
to  return  to  it  those  mineral  substances  which  are  removed  by 
the  grain.  If  we  sold  our  crops,  instead  of  feeding  stock  wath 
them,  w^e  should  rapidly  impoverish  the  soil ;  but  our  New 
England  method,  of  farming  for  ourselves,  and  of  consuming 


n 

the  products  of  the  soil  upon  it,  and  of  restoring  the  inorganic 
matters  of  the  crops  in  the  form  of  farm-yard  manure^,  obviates, 
in  a  great  measure,  the  exhaustion  of  the  soil  by  returning  to 
it  those  important  salts  which  are  in  tlu;  manures.  We  should 
remember,  however,  that  when  we  sell  any  animal  that  has 
been  reared  upon  the  produce  of  the  soil,  w(*  disposi;  of  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  the  phosjihates,  and  other  valuable  salts 
which  the  animal  derived  from  its  food,  and  which  all  came 
from  the  soil,  through  the  medium  of  the  crops  raised. 

The  farmer  who  raises  grain  and  breeds  cattle  for  a  distant 
market,  is  continually  removing  from  the  soil  its  essential  ele- 
ments of  fertility,  and  sells  the  very  life-blood  of  his  land.  To 
him,  therefore,  it  is  of  the  very  highest  importatice  that  he 
should  know  the  best  and  cheapest  means  of  renovating  hi.s 
soil,  so  as  to  prevent  exhaustion  and  ensure  constant  and 
even  improving  fertility. 

To  the  chemist  is  he  indebted  for  the  discovery  of  the  most 
certain  and  cheap  processes  for  effecting  this  very  desirable 
object;  and  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  by  ignorant 
persons  against  science  and  "  book  learning,"  all  the  substantial 
improvements  made  by  chemists  for  the  benefit  of  farmers, 
will  be  ultimately  adopted;  for  that  powerful  incentive,  to 
which  "we  may  never  plead  in  vain" — self-interest  —  wiU 
prompt  to  their  adoption. 

Let  us,  for  a  moment,  glance  at  the  inorganic  matters  which 
enter  into  the  composition  of  our  usual  crops,  and  see  what 
ingredients  are  actually  removed  from  the  soil  by  their  cultiva- 
tion.    They  are  — 

Bases.  —  Potash,  Soda,  Lime,  Magnesia,  Oxides  of  Iron 
and  Manganese. 

Acids.  —  Silicic  acid,  Sulphuric  acid.  Phosphoric  acid,  Chlo- 
rine. 

The  acids  and  bases  are  here  given  separately,  but  in  the 
soil  and  in  plants  they  are  combined  with  each  other,  forming 
various  saline  compounds,  which  are  generally  neutral.  We 
obtain  some  of  them  in  that  state  from  the  ashes  of  all  plants, 
and  when  wt;  obtain  alkaline  matter,  it  is  derived  by  the 
decomposition  of  the  organic  acid,  with  which  the  alkali  was 
originally  combiiKHl.  Th(>  saline  matters  varv  in  their  propor- 
tions in  dirterent  plants  and  even  in  the  ditl'erent  parts  of  the 
same  plant. 

I  do  not  wish  you  to  suppose  that  these  ingredients  exist  in 
the  soil  in  the  same  state  of  combination  that  they  do  in  the 
plants.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  evident  that  decompositions 
take  place  in  them  during  their  circulation  in  th(!  vessels  of 


IB 

living  vegetables,  and  when  we  burn  a  plant,  the  substances 
found  in  ihe  ashes  are  differently  combined  Irom  what  they 
originally  were  in  the  vegetable  tissues. 

In  the  soil,  Phosphoric  acid  occurs  in  combination  with 
lime,  alumnia,  and  oxide  oi  iron,  while  in  the  plant,  we  find 
a  part  of  it  combined  with  potash,  soda,  and  magnesia,  as 
well  as  with  lime,  but  never  in  combination  with  alumina, 
which  is  not  an  ingredient  of  the  vegetable  tissues,  and  is  not 
found  in  any  plants. 

Sulphuric  acid  may  exist;  in  combination  with  oxide  of 
iron  and  alumina,  in  the  soil,  as  well  as  with  lime  and  mag- 
nesia, and  the  alkalies  ;  but  in  the  plant  only,  particular  com- 
binations of  sulphuric  acid  and  of  sulphur  are  iound,  and  they 
are  not  the  same  as  occur  in  the  soil  in  which  the  plant  grows; 
hence  the  sulphates  are  not  merely  accidentally  absorbed,  but 
are  essential  to  the  growth  of  the  plant. 

Silicic  acid  in  the  soil,  is  combined  with  potash  and  soda, 
and  is  generally  insoluble  in  water,  even  when  so  combined, 
but  by  the  action  of  carbonic  acid,  the  insoluble  silicates 
undergo  partial  decomposition,  and  carbonate  of  potash  is 
formed  which  dissolves  a  small  portion  of  the  silicic  acid,  and 
renders  it  capable  of  absorption  by  the  plants.  Then  the 
silicate  of  potash  is  decomposed  by  organic  acids  in  the  plant, 
and  the  silicia  is  set  free,  and  is  secreted,  and  forms  a  part  of 
the  tissues,  and  sheaths  the  sap  vessels,  and  covers  the  exte- 
rior of  the  hollow  stems  of  the  cerealia  or  grasses. 

Clilorine  is  found  combined  with  the  metallic  bases  of  soda 
and  potash,  forming,  with  sodium,  the  well  known  sea  salt, 
chloride  of  sodium  ;  and  with  the  basis  of  potash,  chloride  of 
potassium,  and  with  those  of  lime  and  magnesia,  the  very  soluble 
chlorides  of  calcium  and  magnesium.  These  salts,  absorbed 
from  the  soil,  also  undergo  decomposition,  and  produce  other 
combinations  in  the  plant. 

Fluorine,  not  yet  detected  in  the  ashes  of  plants,  must  exist 
in  them .  in  small  proportions,  for  it  generally  accompanies 
phosphate  of  lime,  and  it  forms  a  constituent  of  the  enamel  of 
teeth,  and  occurs  in  small  proportions  in  the  bones  of  all  animals. 

The  minerals  constituting  the  substantial  basis  of  all  soils 
must  contain  all  the  fixed  elements  found  in  plants  grown 
upon  them ;  but  it  often  happens  that  they  contain  too  small 
proportions  of  the  most  important  elements,  to  iurnish,  for  a 
length  of  time,  the  inorganic  constituents  of  crops  that  are 
removed  from  the  soil. 

The  native  forest,  every  year,  pays  its  tribute  of  deciduous 
fohage,  and  thus,  in  part,  renovates  the  soil ;  but  stiU  more  by 


13 

the  ultimate  decay  of  the  aged  trunks  of  trees,  is  the  soil 
replenished  with  the  materials  drawn  from  it  by  them  during 
their  growth,  and,  for  interest,  is  added  those  materials  which 
the  trees  had  withdrawn  from  the  atmosphere.  The  organic 
matter  thus  derived,  acts  on  the  mineral  ingredients  of  the  soil, 
various  acids  being  produc^ed  which  dissolve  the  tardily 
decaying  minerals  in  the  soil. 

Thus,  forest  trees  do  not  rob  the  soil  of  any  of  its  constitu- 
ents, and  it  remains  ever  able  to  renew  theu*  growth. 

Fire,  though  it  dissipates  the  organic  matters,  leaves  all  the 
fixed  saline  matters  of  wood  in  its  ashes,  and  by  the  sudden 
addition  of  so  much  readily  soluble  mineral  matter,  alters  the 
character  of  the  soil,  so  as  to  enable  it  to  bear  plants  and  trees 
that  did  not  grow  upon  it  before. 

Thus  we  see  an  abundant  growth  of  raspberry  bushes  and 
of  oak  trees  where  a  pine  forest  had  been  destroyed  by  fire ; 
those  bushes  and  trees  requiring  a  larger  proportion  of  potash 
than  pine  trees.  By  comparing  the  composition  of  the  ashes 
of  the  oak  and  the  pine,  this  difference  will  be  at  once  noticed : 

The  ashes  of  the  oak,  Quercus  Kobur,  contains.      That  of  pitch  pine,  Piiius  Picea. 

Potash,  64.64  21.75 

and  Soda     6.76 
Lime,  4.89  1.54 

Magnesia,  5.57  16.79 

Chloride  of  Sodium,     0.98  0.57 

Phosphate  of  Iron,         2.61       Ox.  Iron       1.31 
Sulphate  of  Lime,         4.73 
Piiosphoric  Acid,         15.62  39.65 

Silex,  0.96  11.71 

—  Annates  de  Chem.  et  Phar.  Wohler. 
The  oak  contains  more  alkaline  matter  than  the  pine  and  less 
phosphoric  acid.  Hence  we  can  at  once  understand  why  the 
oak  grows  on  the  soil  where  a  pine  forest  has  been  destroyed 
by  fire.  The  red  raspberry  is  also  remarkable  for  the  large 
proportion  of  potash  it  contains,  and  every  spot  where  a  fire 
has  been  kindled  in  the  woods  of  Maine,  is,  in  a  few  years, 
covered  with  an  abundant  growth  of  this  plant.  So  also  in 
New  Hampshire,  the  raspberry  springs  up  in  luxuriance  on 
burnt  lands.  The  raspberry  also  clings  closely  to  rocks,  and 
thrives  best  near  granite  ledges  and  old  stone  walls,  on  account 
of  the  alkaline  matter  they  yield  to  its  roots.  New  soils,  rich 
in  potash  minerals,  are  not  unfrequently  overgrown  very  soon 
by  raspberry  and  blackberry  vines.  In  order  to  estimate  the 
importance  of  the  saline  matters  removed  from  the  soil  by 
crops,  let  us  examine  the  results  obtained  by  Boussingault,  a 


14 

distinguished  chemist  and  agriculturist  of  France.     He  esti- 
mates the  proportions  of  inorganic  matter  contained  in  each 
year's  crop  of  grass  from  his  meadows,  as  follows : 
Phosphoric  Acid,  1254  pounds 

Sulphuric  Acid,  627       " 

Chlorine,  602       " 

Lime,  4155       « 

Magnesia,  1672       " 

Potash  and  Soda,  5456       " 

Silicic  Acid,  7312       « 


I  21078       " 

^  These  meadows  receive  an  annual  supply  of  fresh  ooze  from 
waters  of  the  Vosges,  so  that  the  soil  does  not  require  an  arti- 
ficial supply  of  manure.  The  hay,  being  consvimed  by  his 
cattle,  their  manure  goes  to  supply  the  uplands,  so  that  the 
saline  matters  used  on  his  ploughed  land  really  come  from  the 
alluvium  deposited  annually  on  his  meadows  by  the  overflow- 
ing water. 

Suppose  that  there  had  been  no  restoration  of  these  matters 
to  the  soil  of  his  meadow,  and  that  he  had  sold  his  hay,  it  is 
obvious  that  there  would  have  been  a  large  removal  of  valuable 
salts  from  the  soil,  and  his  land  would,  in  the  course  of  time, 
become  exhausted  or  impoverished,  so  as  to  be  unproductive. 

Mr.  Owen  Mason,  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  has  esti- 
mated the  amount  and  proportions  of  inorganic  matters 
removed  from  the  soil  of  Mr.  Adam  Anthony's  farm,  in  North 
Providence,  in  the  course  of  eight  years,  as  follows.  The 
crops  raised  were  alternate  growths  of  millet  and  clover. 


Potash, 

424.92 

pounds 

Soda, 

131.92 

Lime, 

532.88 

Magnesia, 

64.08 

Silicic  Acid, 

390.40 

Sulphuric  Acid, 

113.88 

Phosphoric  Acid, 

108.12 

Chlorine, 

58.64 

Oxide  of  Iron,  &c., 

5.96 

1830.80 

in  all. 

"It  is  doubtful,"  says  Mr.  Mason,  "if  the  cultivator  ever 
suspected,  ;that  he  carried  to  lus  ham  two  casks  of  potash,  two 
casks  of  lime,  one  cask  of  soda,  a  carhoy  of  oil  of  vitrol,  a  large 
demijohn  of  'phosphoric  acid,  and  a  variety  of  other  matters,  con- 
tained in  his  fourteen  tons  of  fodder,  which  were  as  certainly 


15 

stowed  away  in  his  mows,  as  if  conveyed  thither  in  casks  and 
carboys.* 

Since  all  plants,  from  the  majestic  oak  to  the  most  humble 
herb,  contain  and  require  for  their  existence,  the  elements  of 
the  soil  above  pointful  out,  and  the  cereal  i^rains,  especially, 
abound  in  phosphates,  we  cannot  fail  to  jierceive  that  it  is 
necessary  that  we  should  make  provision  for  restorinfr  to  the 
soil,  in  some  form  or  other,  those  important  elements  which  are 
removed  by  the  crops,  and  which,  like  the  phosphates,  exist  in 
the  soil  quite  sparingly. 

From  what  I  have  already  said  respect iiiir  the  use  of  phos- 
phate of  lime,  and  of  other  phosphates  derived  from  it  by 
decomposition  in  the  circulation  of  plants,  you  will  perceive 
that  it  is  reorarded  as  one  of  the  most  important  ingredients  of 
the  soil,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  supplied  by  manures  which 
we  spread  on  the  land. 

The  basis  of  the  bones  of  all  animals  is  phosphate  of  lime, 
and  it  is  derived  by  animals  from  their  food,  the  plants  draw- 
ing it  from  the  soil. 

Ground  bones  or  bone  dust,  is  a  valuable  manure,  but  is 
slow  in  its  action.  If  we  wish  to  hasten  its  absorption  by 
plants,  it  is  necessary  to  decompose  it  bv  means  of  sulphuric 
acid,  adding  thirty  pounds  of  common  "oil  of  vitrol  to  one 
hundred  pounds  of  bones,  and  then  drving  up  the  pasty  mass 
by  mixing  it  with  leached  ashes  and  s()il,  so  as  to  convert  the 
whole  into  a  dry  powder,  capable  of  being  strewn  upon  the 
soil  broadcast.  The  ashes  act  chemically  as  well  as  mechan- 
ically upon  this  mixture,  phosphates  of  the  alkalies  resulting 
from  decomposition  of  th(^  silicates  of  potash  and  soda.  [ 
have  mentioned  leached  ashes,  because  it  is  the  cheapest,  and 
will  answer  the  purpose,  but  unleached  ash(\s  may  be  used 
with  still  greater  benefit,  a  larger  proportion  of  phosphate  of 
potash  being  formed. 

A  native  mineral  phosphate  of  lime,  called  apatite,  and 
asparagus  stone,  is  found  in  the  rocks.  It  is  rather  a  rare 
min<>ral  in  this  vicinity,  and  there  are  but  few  localities  in  the 
world  where  a  large  supi)ly  of  it  can  be  obtained.  The 
British  government  sent  Prof  Daubeny  to  Estramadura,  in 
Spain,  to  examine  the  most  abundant  locaUty  of  it  known  in 
Europe,  but  it  was  not  found  to  exist  in  sufficient  quantities  to 
repay  the  expense  of  bringing  it  to  England.  The  experi- 
ments  tried  with  samples  of  it,  by  Prof.  Daubeny,  proved  it  to 
be  equal  in  value  to  ground  bones. 


V  *,F"?!'^^'^'^^?  iectuTQ  delivered  before  the  Providence  Franklin  Society,- 
by  Mr.  Owen  Mason.  ^\- 


16 

I  have  the  pleasure  of  stating  that  Mr.  Francis  Alger  and 
myself,  during  the  month  of  June  last,  discovered  an  important 
vein  of  this  mineral  in  Hurdstown,  N.  J.,  and,  by  my  advice, 
Mr.  Alger  has  purchased  the  vein,  and  will  soon  introduce  the 
prepared  mineral  into  agricultural  use  in  this  state.  The 
native  phosphate  of  lime  contains  also  a  small  proportion  ot 
fluorine  and  chlorine,  so  as  to  render  it  capable  of  supplying 
the  materials  needed  in  our  granite  soils.  It  is  ob\-ious  that 
the  mineral  phosphate  of  lime  will  answer  full  as  well  lor 
supplying  phosphates  to  plants,  as  the  phosphate  of  lime  of 
bones,  and  since  it  is  free  from  any  admixture  with  carbon- 
ate of  lime,  it  will  not  require  so  much  sulphuric  acid  to  de- 
compose it. 

In  St.  La^\Tence  county.  New  York,  a  considerable  quantity 
of  native  phosphate  of  lime  is  found  in  the  form  of  crystals 
of  a  bright  green  color.  I  am  not  aware  of  any  experiments 
having  been  made  with  it  in  practical  agriculture. 

In  England,  every  fossil  containing  phosphate  of  lime  is 
sought  for  with  avidity  by  intelligent  farmers,  and  such  mate- 
rials are  dissolved  in  sulphuric  acid  and  water,  and  sprinkled 
on  the  soil,  and  by  this  means  the  land  is  made  doubly  pro- 
ductive. Even  coprolites  are  used  when  they  contain  but  ten 
per  cent,  of  phosphates,  and  rocks  containing  a  few  fossil 
bones  are  readily  sold.  Peruvian  guano  contains  about  half 
its  weight  of  phosphates,  and  those  salts  are  its  most  perma- 
nent fertilizing  materials.  In  fish  manure,  the  bones  which 
consist  of  phosphate  of  lime  remain  in  the  soil  .a  long  time 
after  the  animal  matter  has  disappeared,  and  act  favorably  on 
vegetation.  One  of  the  best  farmers  of  Rhode  Island  informed 
me  that  he  regarded  the  bones  of  menhaden  as  the  most  per- 
manent and  valuable  of  manures,  and  he  extracted  the  oil  from 
the  fish  for  sale,  and  used  the  refuse  for  maimre  on  his  land  to 
great  advantage.  Horn  piths,  consisting  of  bony  matter,  may 
be  very  advantageously  used  for  making  Ihe  prepared  phos- 
phates for  agricultural  use,  and  I  hope  never  to  see  them 
thrown  away  or  employed  in  mending  roads,  as  was  formerly 
done. 

It  is  possible  that  there  may  be  some  persons  here  who  do 
not  sufficiently  appreciate  the  value  of  inorganic  matter,  like 
phosphate  of  Ume,  as  a  constituent  of  plants,  but  when  they 
look  to  the  composition  of  the  frame  work  of  animals,  they 
will  perceive  that  bread  A\^ould  cease  to  be  the  staff"  of  life 
if  it  did  not  consist  partly  of  stone  ;  for  the  bones  of  our  bodies 
consist  chieffy  of  phosphate  of  lime  deposited  in  cartilaginous 
cells  ;  and  if  our  food  did  not  contain  that  mineral,  we  should 
have  no  bones,  and  could  have  no  existence. 


If 

The  mother's  milk,  if  it  was  not  ehargod  with  this  indispen- 
sabh'  iMgredient,  would  not  nourish  and  support  the  child,  or 
solidify  its  bony  framework.  Most  of  ihv,  mineral  constituents 
of  plants  are  useful  in  the  animal  economy,  and  some  of  them 
are  as  essential  as  the  more  abundant  combinations  of  carbon, 
hydrojren,  oxygen  and  nitrogen,  which  constitute  the  principal 
and  more  directly  nutritive  matter  that  forms  our  food.  Phos- 
phorus, sulphur,  chlorine,  iron,  potash,  soda  and  magnesia,  with 
numerous  salts,  enter  into  the  composition  of  every  one  of  our 
bodies,  and  are  essential  to  life  and  health. 

The  adult  animal,  whose  bony  fabric  is  comi)leted,  is  enabled 
to  spare  a  large  proj)ortion  of  its'  pliosphate  of  lime  in  nourish- 
ing and  lorming  the  bones  of  its  young,  and  th(^  mother  acts  as 
a  medium  between  the  vegetable  kingdom  and  her  oflspring  in 
preparing  its  food,  her  milk  containing  all  the  elements  of  nutri- 
tion in  the  most  favorable  condition  for  easy  assimilat  on. 

Potash  and  soda  are  well  known  as  important  mineral  ele- 
ments of  plants,  and  they  are  also  known  to  be  valuable 
manures  when  presented  to  the  growing  plant  in  projier 
combinations.  Their  origin  is  to  be  traced  to  the  mineral  world, 
feldspar  and  mica,  two  of  the  most  abundant  minerals,  con- 
stituting granite,  gneiss,  and  mica  slate  rocks,  furnishing  them 
by  their  slow  decomposition  in  the  soil. 

Those  minerals  contain  from  12  to  16  percent,  of  potash  and 
soda,  combined  with  silicic  acid.  They  are  insoluble  in  water, 
but  by  means  of  carbonic  acid,  disengaged  by  decaying  vegeta- 
ble matter,  the  silicates  are  decomposed  and  carbonates  of  the 
alkalies  are  formed,  which  are  soluble  in  water,  and  go  to  nour- 
ish plants,  and  serve  as  solvents  of  the  humus  of  the  soil,  so 
that  it  can  be  absorbed  by  plants. 

The  vegetable  acids,  derived  from  decaying  peat  and  rotten 
wood,  also  have  the  property  of  slowly  acting  upon  feldspar  and 
mica,  and  separate  the  alkaline  matter.  A  small  proportion  of 
the  silex  is  also  dissolved  by  the  action  of  the  liberated  alkalies, 
and  goes  into  the  vegetable  economy,  forming  a  part  of  the  solid 
stru(tun>  of  the  sap  vessels,  and  shielding  the  surface  of  delicate 
hollow  stems  with  a  layer  of  glass,  serving  to  pnnent  their  de- 
struction by  mildew  and  rust,  while  it  prevents  the  loaded  stem 
from  breaking  down  undcT  its  burden  of  grain. 

Ashes  of  plants  containing  these  alkalies  and  soluble  silicates 
is  one  of  the  best  of  fertilizers,  and  may  be  justly  regarded  as  an 
universal  manure,  containing  all  those  inorganic  elements  that 
are  known  to  be  constituents  of  plants. 

Leached  ashes,  although  d(>prived  of  part  of  its  alkaline  mat- 
ter, is  valuable  as  a  manure,  lor  it  is  capable  of  yielding  still 


18 

more  to  the  searching  powers  of  the  rootlets  of  plants,  and  con- 
tains other  materials,  insoluble  in  a  great  measure  in  water, 
which  are  capable  of  being  slowly  taken  up  by  growing  vege- 
tables. Experience  has  proved  that  200  bushels  of  leached 
ashes  will  render  fertile  for  many  years  the  sandy  soil  of  a  pine 
barren,  which  before  was  a  waste  of  blowing  sand. 

Lime,  in  the  state  of  carbonate,  and  in  combination  with 
various  organic  acids  of  the  soil,  is  also  a  valuable  manure,  and 
operates  favorably  for  a  long  term  of  years,  enabling  soils  that 
were  before  unproductive,  to  bear  heavy  crops  of  grain. 

Magnesia  enters  into  the  composition  of  all  plants,  though 
in  smaller  proportions  than  the  other  mineral  ingredients  I  have 
named.  In  the  state  of  phosphate,  it  is  a  constituent  of  both 
vegetables  and  animals.  It  is  found  in  soils  generally  combined 
with  silex,  and  is  slowly  eliminated  by  the  decomposition  of 
the  minerals  containing  it. 

Oxides  of  iron  and  manganese  abound  every  where  in  all  soils, 
and  we  need  not  trouble  ourselves  to  supply  them  by  composts 
or  manures  of  any  kind.  They  exist  in  all  plants  and  animals 
in  small  proportions. 

Sulphuric  acid  exists  in  soils  in  combination  with  lime, 
magnesia,  alumina,  oxide  of  iron,  and  the  alkalies,  and  goes 
into  the  circulation  of  plants,  generally  in  the  combination  with 
lime,  ammonia,  and  the  fixed  alkalies.  It  is  not  only  separated 
in  part  from  its  mineral  combinations  during  its  circulation  in 
plants,  but  is  actually  reduced  in  some  of  them,  sulphur  being 
known  to  exist  in  a  free  state  in  most  of  the  cruciferous  plants, 
such  as  the  mustard,  turnip,  cabbage,  and  cauliflower.  Every 
housewife  is  familiar  with  the  action  of  mustard  on  a  silver 
spoon,  the  blackening  being  due  to  the  action  of  sulphur,  which 
combines  with  the  silver. 

Sulphate  of  lime  or  gypsum,  is  supposed  to  owe  part  of  its 
fertilizing  power  to  its  exchange  of  elements  with  carbonate  of 
ammonia  arising  from  the  decomposition  of  animal  manures, 
sulphate  of  ammonia  and  carbonate  of  lime  resulting  ;  but  it  is 
certain  that  clover  and  some  other  plants  also  appropriate  sul- 
phate of  lime  in  its  undecomposed  state.  Sulphate  of  ammo- 
nia is  the  most  powerful  of  the  soluble  sulphates,  for  it  conveys 
nitrogen  and  hydrogen  to  the  plant  as  well  as  sulphuric  acid. 
It  is  not  known  exactly  how  this  saline  manure  acts,  but  it  has 
been  proved,  by  experiment,  to  be  one  of  the  most  powerful, 
acting  favorably  when  used  in  the  minute  proportions  conveyed 
by  a  steep  for  seed  :  this  being  the  German  secret  of  raising 
grain  from  prepared  seed  without  manure,  a  secret  which  made 
so  much  noise  in  the  agricultural  world  a  few  years  since. 

Chlorine,  in  combination  with  the  metallic  bases  of  the  allvalies, 


19 

and  with  those  of  magnesia  and  lime,  enters  into  the  eomposi- 
tion  of  all  plants,  and  is  always  found  in  such  combinations  in 
their  ashes.  In  some  places,  sea  salt  operates  favorably  as  a 
saline  manure,  and  increases  generally  the  crops  of  grass.  It  is 
also  favorable  to  the  plum  tree,  and  to  vegetables  which  flourish 
best  near  the  sea  shore.  It  is  not  known  what  part  the  chlo- 
rides play  in  the  vegetable  economy,  but  their  constant  presence 
seems  to  indicate  that  they  are  in  some  way  useful. 

Oxides  of  iron  and  manganese  doubtless  perform  useful 
functions  in  the  vegetable  economy,  for  they  are  always  found 
in  the  ashes  of  plants.  The  oxide  of  iron,  derived  from  veget- 
able food,  enters  into  the  composition  of  blood,  and  is  supposed 
to  be  one  of  the  vehicles  for  the  trans|)ortation  of  oxygen  to 
different  parts  of  the  body,  in  the  circulating  blood.  These 
oxides  being  universally  present  in  the  soil,  there  is  no  need  of 
supplying  them  by  artificial  means.  More  frequently  we  have 
to  neutralize  the  action  of  their  salts,  for  some  of  the  soluble 
salts  of  oxide  of  iron  are  highly  injurious,  and  destroy  tender  her- 
baceous plants.  Lime  and  a^hes  are  th.>  most  common  amend- 
ments used  in  case  sulphate  of  iron  exists  in  the  soil,  and 
by  their  action  new  and  valuable  saline  manures  are  produced. 

The  few  mineral  substances  I  have  named,  are  the  chief 
inorganic  constituents  of  plants  of  all  kinds.  Hence  they  are 
universal  fertilizers,  and  we  have  to  examine  the  soils  to  ascer- 
tain their  presence,  and  the  proportions  in  which  they  exist,  and 
to  determine  the  condition  that  is  most  favorable  to  vege- 
tation. We  have  also  to  ascertain  the  cheapest  and  best 
methods  of  supplying  those  ingredients  that  are  wanting,  or  are 
deficient  in  quantity,  cr  to  alter  the  condition  or  combinations 
of  those  that  are  not  in  their  most  favorable  state. 

The  relative  j)roporlions  of  the  different  mineral  salts,  nuiuired 
for  each  different  crop,  is  a  study  of  much  interest,  and  this 
inquiry  is  now  occupying  the  attention  of  distinguished  chem- 
ists, who  will,  in  the  course  of  time,  discover  nuich  that  will 
prove  useful  in  directing  the  labors  of  the  husbandman. 

In  the  present  advanced  state  of  chemical  science,  new 
analyses  of  plants  and  of  the  soil  can  be  advantageously  made, 
and  the  highest  skill  of  analytic  chemistry  is  required  in  this 
most  important  department  of  agricultural  science.  Rude  and 
imperfect  analyses  are  of  no  use,  and  only  tend  to  lead  the 
farmer  astray.  licence  all  the  "  short  cut  methods"  proposed  in 
newspapers  should  be  di^scarded,  as  leading  to  error,  and  as  inju- 
rious to  society.  * 

*  The  acricultural  ni'w>papeis  foinicrly  aboundel  with  "  easy  mothwls  of 
analvzin"-  the  soils,"  but  h;n)i)ily  we  do  not  see  tliem  so  often  at  this  day. 


20 


ORGANIC    MANURES. 

Although  it  is  evident  that  the  first  vegetation  of  our  globe 
grew  without  the  aid  of  organic  manures,  or  those  derived  from 
the  decay  of  organic  matter,  either  of  vegetable  or  animal  origin, 
and  we  know  that  the  lower  classes  of  plants,  such  as  lichens, 
and  mosses  will  grow  without  any  other  nourishment  than 
what  they  derive  from  rocks,  water,  and  the  atmosphere ;  still 
it  is  no  less  certain,  that  profitable  agriculture  cannot  be  carried 
on  without  the  aid  of  decomposing  vegetable  and  animal  sub- 
stances. 

Vegetable  matters  by  decay  produce  acids,  and  these  acids 
decompose  the  minerals  in  the  soil,  and  form  neutral  combina- 
tions with  the  alkaline  and  earthy  bases,  rendering  many  of 
them  soluble  in  water. 

They  also  absorb  and  fix  the  ammonia,  generated  by  the 
decay  of  animal  matters,  and  form  valuable  soluble  compounds, 
which  are  digestible  by  plants.*  These  acids  may  be  called 
the  vegetable  acids  of  the  soil. 

The  most  common  acids  formed  by  the  decay  of  vegetable 
substances  in  humid  soil  are  humic  acid,  apocrenic  acid,  ulmic 
acid,  and  crenic  acid,  and  a  matter  called  extract  of  humus. 
Besides  these,  there  are  neutral  substances,  called  humin, 
ulmine,  and  coal  of  humus,  which,  by  the  action  of  the  air,  are 
changed  into  other  substances,  and  become  soluble  in  water. 

These  vegetable  acids  of  the  soil,  form  combinations  with  the 
various  alkaline  and  earthy  matters,  and  are  carried  with  lh(  m 
into  the  circulation  of  living  plants,  in  which  the  organic  sub- 
stances are  assimilated  or  converted  into  the  sap  of  the  plant, 
and  ultimately  into  the  substance  of  its  tissues. 

Animal  matters,  whether  solid  or  liquid,  by  decomposition 
always  form  alkaline  matter,  chiefly  ammonia,  and  its  salts. 
This  alkali  corrects  the  acidity  of  the  soil,  combines  with  the 
vegetable  acids,  extracts  them  from  their  insoluble  compounds, 
and  renders  them  highly  soluble  in  water.  It  decomposes 
noxious  mineral  salts,  such,  for  exainple,  as  sulphate  of  iron  and 
sulphate  of  alumina,  and  forms,  with  the  sulphuric  acid,  one  of 
the  most  valuable  saline  manures,  the  very  salt  which  has 
acquired  so  much  celebrity  for  its  fertilizing  properties  when 
used  as  a  steep  for  seeds. 

From  what  has  just  been  said,  it  appears  that  science 
explains  and  justifies  the  experience  of  ages,  which  has  proved 
that  is  best  to  mix  animal  and  vegetable  matters  together  in 
forming  compost  manures.     Knowing  that  urine,  by  decom- 

*  This  I  have  proved  by  direct  experiments  with  apoercnate  of  potash. 


21 

position,  forms  carbonate  of  ammonia,  we  arc  prepared  to 
understand  the  necessity  of  mixing  it  in  compost  with  peat 
and  gypsum,  so  as  to  retain  matters  that  would  otherwise  ily 
away  in  a  gaseous  form. 

Carbonic  acid  gas  is  composed  of  one  atomic  equivalent  of 
carbon  or  charcoal,  and  two  of  oxygen  or  vital  air.  It  is  this 
gas  which  sparkles  in  a  glass  of  the  beverage  called  soda 
water,  and  that  which  causes  the  foam  in  a  bottle  of  beer, 
cider,  or  champaign  wine.  It  constitutes  a  small  portion  of 
the  general  atmosphere,  and  is  exhaled  in  the  breath  of  every 
animal,  and  is  also  produced  by  the  combustion  of  wood  and 
coals.  It  will  not  support  animal  respiration,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  poisonous  when  inhaled  into  the  lungs.  This  gas  is 
the  supporter  of  respiration  in  plants,  is  absorbed  by  their 
foliage,  and,  whenever  the  sun  shines  on  them,  the  leaves 
decompose  the  carbonic  acid  which  they  have  absorbed,  appro- 
priate the  carbon,  and  throw  forth  pure  oxygen  gas,  or  vital 
air,  into  the  atmosphere,  which  goes  to  supply  the  breath  of 
life  to  animals.  So  that  it  is  true,  that  our  respiration,  in  part, 
feeds  the  vegetable  world,  and  that  we  receive  back  our  breath 
in  the  form  of  fruit,  flowers,  and  fuel,  and  the  air  is  restored  to 
its  healthful  composition  through  this  marvellous  property  of 
living  vegetation.  Dumas,  the  French  chemist,  says,  that  the 
leaves  of  plants  absorb  carbonic  acid  with  so  much  avidity, 
that  when  a  branch  of  fresh  foliage  is  placed  within  a  glass 
globe,  and  the  air  is  blown  rapidly  through  with  a  blast  bel- 
lows, it  loses  all  its  carbonic  acid  in  its  passage  over  the  leaves, 
provided  the  sun  shines  on  the  plant  at  the  time.  In  darkness, 
this  action  does  not  take  place.  Hence,  it  is  evident,  that  the 
sun's  rays  serve  to  nourish  plants,  by  aiding  in  the  decomposi- 
tion of  carbonic  acid  gas. 

A  portion  of  the  carbonic  acid  of  the  air  is  dissolved  by 
rain,  and  penetrates  with  it  into  the  earth,  and  there  aids  in 
the  decomposition  of  the  materials  of  granite  rocks,  forming 
carbonates  of  potash  and  soda  from  the  silicates  of  those 
bases.  Aquatic  vegetation  also  feeds,  in  part,  on  the  carbonic 
acid  of  rain  water,  and  absorbs  the  carbon,  and  gives  out 
oxygen  gas  to  support  the  respiration  of  fishes,  wliich  soon 
return  carbonic  acid  to  the  water  to  repay  the  plants.* 

Thus  nature  performs  a  series  of  the  most  interesting  chem- 


*  This  operation  of  sub-aqm^ous  plants  I  have  witnessed  on  the  coast  of 
Lake  Superior  The  lake  water  generally  contains  about  two  and  a-half  per 
cent,  of  its  bulk  of  air  dissolved  in  it.  Among  aquatic  plants,  free  oxygen  is 
seen  bubbling  through  the  water. 

3 


22 

ical  experiments,  and  keeps  up  forever  the  circulation  of  the 
life-supporting  matters  required  by  the  two  great  living  king- 
doms. AMMONIA  OF  THE  AIR.  Carbonatc  of  ammonia  has 
been  supposed  to  be  a  constituent  of  the  general  atmosphere, 
but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  exists  only  near  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  and  arises  from  decaying  animal  matters,  the 
effluvia  of  which  consist  partly  of  this  volatile  salt. 

Many  ammonia-producing  organic  matters,  exist  in  rain 
and  snow  water,  and  the  first  snow  that  falls  is  well  entitled 
to  the  name  of  the  "  poor  man's  manure,"  for  it  brings  down 
with  it  a  very  considerable  proportion  of  ammoniacal  matters, 
which  are  found  in  the  form  of  a  yellow  organic  substance,  which 
is  quickly  converted  by  mineral  acids  into  salts  of  ammonia. 
This  yellow  matter,  found  in  snow  and  rain  water,  has  been 
named  by  Zimmerman,  pyrrhine,  and,  according  to  the 
researches  of  Dr.  A.  A.  Hayes,  it  is  the  chief  source  of  the 
ammonia  found  in  the  atmosphere.  The  well  known  superi- 
ority ot  rain  water  over  spring  water,  as  a  fertilizer,  may  be  due 
to  the  presence  of  this  highly  nitrogenized  and  easily  decom- 
posable organic  matter  in  rain  water.  It  is,  as  before 
observed,  especially  abundant  in  the  first  rains,  which  fall  after 
a  long  drought,  and  hence,  those  rains  produce  such  marvellous 
effects,  so  far  surpassing  those  produced  by  terrestrial  or  spring 
water.  (See  Memoir  on  the  supposed  existence  of  ammonia 
in  the  general  atmosphere,  by  A.  A.  Hayes,  read  at  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
August,  1850.) 

Did  time  permit,  we  might  examine  into  the  systems  of  agri- 
cultural practice,  investigate  the  theory  of  composting,  liming, 
and  the  use  of  ashes,  guano,  and  saline  manures  generally,  and 
explain  the  effects  of  these  various  fertilizers.  We  might  also 
shew  the  various  methods  of  reclaiming  peat-bogs,  and  of 
converting  them  into  rich  meadows  and  corn  fields. 

Irrigation  might  also  claim  a  share  of  our  attention,  for  in 
spite  of  the  old  Spanish  proverb  in  relation  to  irrigation,  that 

"  In  Valencia, 
Flesh  is  grass, 
Grass  is  water, 
^/en  are  women. 
And  women  nothing  ! " 

we  could  shew  that  on  many  a  dry  hill  side,  and  pasture, 
heavy  crops  of  good  substantial  grass,  capable  of  making  excel- 
lent beef  and  stout  muscular  fibre  in  those  who  eat  it,  might  be 
raised,  by  the  action  of  a  trickling  overflow  of  water,  from  a 
narrow  ditch,  carried  along  by  the  hill  side,  and  fed  by  some 
brook  or  pond,  from  whence  the  water  might,  by  proper  con- 


23 

trivances,  be  derived.  Inigatioii  is  practised  in  Smithfield, 
Rhode  Island,  with  advantage,  and  I  have  witnessed  its  favor- 
able effects.  There  are  many  farms  in  this  county  were  it 
could  be  used  favorably  and  at  little  cost. 

Sub-soil  ploughing,  by  giving  greater  depth  to  the  tilth, 
removing  cold  and  stagnant  waters,  and  bringing  into  ac- 
tion the  valuable  salts  which  had  settled  into  the  deeper  soil, 
is  one  of  the  greatest  improvements  of  modern  agriculture,  and 
has  caused  two  blades  of  grass  to  grow  where  but  one  grew 
before,  and  given  a  considerable  extension  to  the  root  crops,  by 
allowing  them  to  penetrate  deeper  into  the  soil,  and  draw  more 
steadily  their  supply  of  moisture.  This  improvement  has  given 
celebrity  to  its  active  and  intelligent  expounder  and  advocate, 
(Mr.  Smith,  of  Deanston,  England.)  It  has  been  used  to  advan- 
tage by  many  good  farmers  in  this  country. 

Under-draining,  by  tile  drains,  the  last  and  most  costly 
improvement  of  English  agriculture,  has  been  practised  to  a 
very  hmited  extent  in  this  country,  but  sufficiently  to  prove  its 
great  value,  as  a  means  of  improving  cold  and  wet  soils. 

It  may  now  and  then  be  worth  while  to  drain  in  this  way  a 
valuable  piece  of  land,  or  a  garden,  but  its  cost  is  so  great  that 
few  persons  will  use  it  in  general  farming,  in  a  country  where 
land  is  so  cheap  as  it  is  with  us. 

It  would  doubtless  be  useful  to  discuss  the  value  of  fish 
manures,  and  to  consider  the  best  methods  of  converting  them 
and  slaughter-house  offal  into  nearly  inodorous,  but  highly 
concentrated  manures  something  hke  guano — to  explain  the 
best  methods  of  forming  that  kind  of  manure,  called  by  the 
farmers  of  Rhode  Island  "fish  pie,"  (not  a  very  savory  dish)  — 
to  explain  how  fish  could  be  used  without  carrying  an  infectious 
tieus  odour  or  bringing  a  swarm  of  myriads  of  ugly  green  flies 
to  cover  our  farms,  and  to  take  possession  of  our  dweUings ; 
but  we  have  not  time  to  enter  upon  the  examination  of  these  sub- 
jects, each  of  which  would  consume  an  hour  in  its  discussion. 
I  may  however  say,  that  by  making  fish  into  a  compost, 
with  swamp  muck,  or  i)eat,  well  sprinkl(xl  with  ground  gypsum 
and  lime,  nearly  all  the  disagreeable  odour  may  be  prevented, 
and  the  fish  will  be  converted  into  several  substances,  all  of 
which  will  prove  useful  as  manures.  This  experiment  has 
been    tried  successfully. 

Dr.  Robert  Hare,  of  Philadelphia,  one  of  the  most  distinguish- 
ed Chemists  of  our  country,  has  invented  a  method  of  form- 
ing an  artificial  guano  directly  from  fish,  by  the  agency  sul- 
phuric acid.  He  has  secured  letters  patent  for  this  invention, 
but  will,  I  understand,  ere  long  give  it  to  the  public.     By  his 


24 

process  the  nitrogenized  matters  of  the  fish  are  directly  con- 
verted into  sulphate  of  ammonia,  while  the  carbonaceous  mat- 
ter^is  changed  into  a  sort  o(  humus,  and  the  bones  are  changed 
into  superphosphate  and  sulphate  of  lime,  all  Avhich  matters 
are  good  manures. 

Concentrated  manures  rarely  succeed  at  first  in  the  hands 
of  practical  farmers,  for  they  use  them  too  freely,  and  thus 
destroy  the  tender  plants.  This  was  the  first  experience  of 
most  of  our  farmers  with  that  powerful  manure  guano.  They 
have  now  learned  how  to  use  it  with  safety  and  effect.  It 
should  always  be  largely  diluted  or  mixed  with  soil,  or  be 
spread,  one  half  on  the  surface  and  ploughed  in,  and  the  other 
half  may  be  harrowed  in.  It  should  not  be  put  in  a  hill,  but 
always  should  be  sown  or  spread  broad  cast. 

It  can  be  also  used  advantageously  in  peat  composts.  Not 
a  particle  of  the  ammonia  then  escapes,  for  the  acids  of  the 
peat  combine  with  it  and  fix  it  in  a  non-volatile  state. 

In  England,  the  humidity  of  the  climate,  prevents  guano  from 
killing  the  plants,  as  it  sometimes  does  with  us,  under  oin* 
burning  summer  sun,  and  in  our  dry  and  parched  soil;  hence 
it  has  proved  more  generally  successful  in  England  than  with  us. 

Peat,  by  its  strong  retentive  power  holds  twenty-five  percent, 
of  water  in  its  substance,  even  when  dry  enough  for  fuel.  Its 
tendency  then  is  to  prevent  drought,  and  it  forms  the  safest 
basis  for  all  composts,  and  is  the  best  material  to  place  under 
stalls  to  absorb  liquid  manures.  Ground  gypsum,  mixed  wdth 
it,  augments  its  power  of  taking  up  ammoniacal  gases,  and 
of  decomposing  carbonate  of  ammonia,  fixing  the  ammonia 
as  a  sulphate. 

By  high  manuring,  it  is  perfectly  practicable  to  raise  on  most 
of  the  soils  of  this  county,  seventy-five  bushels  of  corn  per  acre. 
I  have  seen  more  than  one  hundred  bushels  per  acre,  raised  on 
similar  granite  soil  in  New  Hampshire.  The  question  with 
the  farmer  is,  can  this  be  done  profitably?  Is  it  better  for  him 
to  spend  money  and  labour  for  manure,  or  to  rest  satisfied  with 
fifteen  or  twenty  bushels  of  corn  per  acre  without  expending 
anything  for  manures  ? 

These  questions  each  will  consider  and  reply  to  for  himself. 
My  own  opinion,  derived  from  observations  made  quite  exten- 
sively, in  New  England,  is  that  where  materials  for  the  formation 
of  the  basis  of  compost  exist,  it  is  advantageous  to  manufacture 
manures  even  though  some  of  the  materials  like  guano  might 
have  to  be  purchased. 

Where  cattle  are  kept  in  sufficient  numbers,  barn-yard  ma- 
nures will  of  course  take  the  place  of  all  others,  but  if  the  farmer 
yvonld  make  the  most  of  this  manure,  he  will  convert  it  into 


•  25 

compost  with  peat,  sjypsum,  ashes,  and  in  some  cases  with  the 
addition  of  lime.  Lime  is  a  powerful  decomposing  agent,  and 
must  never  be  mixed  with  animal  manures,  unless  they  are  first 
mixed  with  peat  or  swamp  muck,  for  the  ammonia  would 
otherwise  be  lost. 

Finished  composts,  or  thoroughly  rotted  manures  are  gene- 
rally preferable  since  they  are  more  soluble  and  are  free  from 
seeds  of  weeds  and  grasses.  I  have  seen  compost  heaps  made 
five  years  in  advance.  The  composts  cost  but  little  money,  and 
yet  were  of  excellent  qualily.  By  avaiUng  himself  of  al  Ithe  refuse 
of  his  house  and  stalls,  even  to  the  soap-suds  and  waste  water 
of  the  sink,  and  causing  every  such  matter  to  run  into  his  peat 
heap,  this  compost  was  kept  always  forming,  and  when  deemed 
saturated  sufficiently  it  was  removed  and  replaced  by  fresh  peat. 
By  addition  of  a  marly  day,  containing  about  ten  per  cent,  of 
carbonate  of  lime,  the"  compost  was  completed  and  answered 
admirably  on  both  uplands  and  meadows.* 

Leached  ashes  is   a  cheap  and  excellent  manure    for  light 
sandy  soil.     I  have   seen  in   a  neighbouring   Statef  a  barren 
sandy  plain  rendered  fertile  by  spreading  upon  it  200   bushels 
of  leached  ashes  per  acre,  and  cultivating  millet  and  clover  ior 
eight  years,  no  other  manure  being  added  during  that  tune,  and 
the  crops  being  removed.     By  the  stubble  left,  as  analysis  has 
proved,  the  soil    became  annually   enriched  in  vegetable  mat- 
ter, and  gained  three  per  cent,  of  organic  matter  in  eight  years. 
The  ashes  enabled  the  plants  to    grow,  and  they  drew   on  the 
atmosphere  for  a  considerable  supply  of  carbon,  derived  from 
carbonic  acid  gas,  so  that  even  the  stubble,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  crops  removed,  proves  that  mineral  manures,  such  as  ashes, 
enable  the  crops  to  appropriate  a  larger  portion  of  carbon  from 
the  air.     I  have  seen  seventy-five  busliels  of  corn  and  three  and 
a  half  tons  of  hay  produced  per  acre,  on  a  peat  bog  that  was 
thirty  feet  deep,  and  had  been  properly  drained  and  cultivated.? 
I  have  witnessed  the  valuable  effects  of  lime  both  in  compostj^ 
and  when  spread  on  the  soil.     This  mineral  amendment  and 
manure  is  not  generally  understood  or  well  managed,  hence 
there  is  great  diversity  in  opinion  among  farmers  as  to  its  value. 
It  is  certain,  that  the  beneficial  effects  of  lime  are  very  rarely 
seen  the  first  year,  and  it  is  certain  that  it  acts  favorably  in 
two  or  three  years   after  it  is  spread  on  the  soil,  and  that  its 
fertilizing  properties  remain  for  a  great  number  of  years.§ 

*  Judge  Hays's  farm,  South  Berwick,  Maine. 

f  Rhode  Island,  Adam  Anthony's  farm. 

t  Elias  Phinnev's  tann,  Lexington.  , 

§  Levi  Bartlett's  farm,  AVarner,  N.  11.     Read  also  his  papers. 

3* 


26 

If  lime  is  used  in  composts  its  beneficial  action  may  at  once 
be  seen.  It  makes  a  very  cheap  and  useful  compost  with  peat, 
or  swamp  muck,  nearly  equal  in  value  to  barn  yard  manure 
though  rather  slower  in  its  operation.* 

In  all  trials  of  the  value  of  manures  it  is  necessary  to  carry 
the  experiments  tluough  an  entire  rotation  of  crops,  for  four 
years,  and  a  comparison  should  be  kept  up  with  other  portions 
of  land  not  manured  or  treated  by  other  methods,  as  standards 
of  comparison.  ]Most  of  the  agricultural  experiments  of  far- 
mers are  imperfect  for  "^'ant  of  such  comparative  trials. 

The  numerous,  and  constantly  improving  market  gardens  in 
the  neighborhood  of  cities,  prove  that  the  fertility'  of  soils  may 
not  only  be  retained,  but  even  be  annually  augmented  by  the 
judicious  use  of  manures. 

The  farmer  in  the  country,  remote  from  cities,  cannot  pur- 
chase manures,  and  must  learn  to  make  them  from  cheap 
materials.  By  mixing  with  peat,  swamp  muck,  dead  leaves, 
rotten  straw,  or  rotten  w"ood,  the  alkaline  and  earthy  matters 
that  will  combine  with  the  acids,  or  by  adding  any  ammonia- 
producing  matters,  such  as  liquid  manures  of  the  stalls,  and  all 
waste  liquids  of  the  house,  also  ground  or  bmnt  bones,  gypsmn, 
slaughter  house  ofFal,  dead  animals,  night  soil,  or  any  such  mat- 
ters, excellent  and  cheap  composts  may  be  formed. 

Wherever  drains  can  be  laid  from  the  house,  through 
the  vault  to  the  barn  yard,  the  arrangement  may  be  so 
made  as  to  save  the  trouble  of  transporting  the  waste  matters 
to  the  compost  heap.  This  I  have  seen  most  conveniently 
arranged,  the  waste  water  of  the  sink  drains,  passing  over  an 
inclined  plane  of  plank  in  the  vault,  and  then  going  directly  to 
the  muck  heap  in  the  barn  yard,  so  that  all  waste  water  of  the 
house  went  to  the  compost  heap  and  cleansed  the  inclined 
plank  in  its  way.  thus  proving  both  economical  and  cleanly.f 

When  tlie  farmer  purchases  fertihzing  substances  to  spread 
on  his  soil,  it  is  very  important  to  him  to  know  exactly  what 
the  soil  requires,  so  that  he  may  waste  nothing,  and  supply  the 
deficient  matters. 

He  should  know  also  what  degree  of  solubility'  manures  should 
possess,  in  order  to  act  most  favorably.  Nature  does  not  indi- 
cate the  use  of  very  soluble  matters  :  they  would  infiltrate  into 
the  sub-soil,  and  soon  be  too  far  removed  from  the  rootlets  of 
plants  to  be  available  to  the  crop,  and  most  certainly  would  be 
lost  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two.  The  best  met.iod  is,  so  to 
manage  the  elements,  as  to  bring  slowly  and  gradually  into  a 

L.  Bartlett. 
t  Judge  Hayes'3  &nn.  South  Berwick,  Me. 


27 

soluble  state  the  substances  the  crop  requires,  and  thus  to  im- 
prove on  nature  by  following  her  suggestions. 

"  For  Nature  ever  faithful  is, 
To  such  as  trust  her  faithfulness." 

To  drench  a  field  with  a  solution  of  potash,  soda,  or  ammo- 
nia, would  serve  to  exhaust  the  soil  by  extracting  at  once  the 
organic  matters  which  nature  had  stored  up  for  a  long  contin- 
ued supply. 

The  rain  would  wash  away  the  solution  and  ere  long  it  would 
reach  that  common  recepticle  of  saline  matter,  the  ocean,  and 
would  leave  the  field  barren.  The  first  effect  of  the  alkaline 
solution  on  the  soil  would  be  to  produce  a  large  crop,  but  the 
soil  would  rapidly  decline  in  fertility.  Thus  it  would  be  a 
poor  method  to  use  saline  manures  in  this  way. 

By  the  use  of  leached  ashes,  we  eliminate  alkaline  matter  gra- 
dually, just  as  it  is  needed  by  growing  plants,  and  it  is  found 
by  experience  that  leached  ashes  is  nearly  as  valuable  in  the 
long  trial,  as  recent  ashes. 

It  is  obvious  to  the  chemist,  that  ashes  produces  a  better 
effect  than  could  be  derived  from  the  alkali  if  separated  and 
applied  by  itself. 

So  also  we  should  find  that  pure  phosphoric,  or  sulphuric 
acids,  would  not  answer  for  manures,  but  would  be  destructive 
to  plants  ;  nor  would  their  most  soluble  salts  prove  most  eco- 
nomical. 

Nature  presents  in  sparingly  soluble  combinations  her  most 
rare  and  precious  fertilizers.  The  phosphates  are  the  most 
rare  of  all,  and  seldom  do  we  find  the  phosphoric  acid  in  com- 
bination with  any  bases  that  form  soluble  salts  with  it,  but  on 
the  contrary  it  is  generally  found  in  combination  with  lime, 
alumina,  and  oxide  of  iron,  and  fornung  not  more  than  three 
tenths  per  cent,  of  the  soil. 

Sulphate  of  lime,  or  gypsum,  is  also  a  sparingly  soluble  salt. 
It  is  slowly  decomposed  by  the  action  of  carbonate  of  ammo- 
nia, and,  little  by  little,  sulphate  of  ammonia  is  produced,  and  is 
ready  to  meet  the  wants  of  growing  plants,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  carbonate  of  lime  is  formed  by  the  union  of  the  carbonic 
acid  of  the  carbonate  of  ammonia,  with  the  lime,  of  the  sulphate 
of  lime. 

This  again  is  decomposed  by  the  freshly  forming  organic 
acids,  produced  by  the  decay  of  vegetable  matters  in  the  soil, 
and  carbonic  acid  gas  is  disengaged  and  goes  to  decompose 
the  silicates  of  the  alkalies,  while  the  organic  lime  salts,  are  ab- 
sorbed and  digested  by  the  living  j)lants  ;  so  that  there  are 
numerous  combinations  and  decompositions  always  going  on 


28 

around  the  roots  of  the  plants  ;  chemical  changes,  which  have 
by  some  been  attributed  to  the  mysterious  powers  of  life. 

It  might  be  expected,  that  I  should  discuss  the  value 
of  different  breeds  of  cattle,  and  point  out  the  various  im- 
provements that  have  been  made.  I  admit  the  importance 
of  the  subject,  and  wish  that  time  and  my  own  knowledge 
would  permit  me  to  enter  upon  its  examination  ;  but  although  I 
have  admired  the  new  and  beautiful  varieties  of  live  stock  that 
have  been  imported  into  the  country,  and  have  been  delighted 
at  witnessing  the  valuable  results  which  have  been  attained  by 
many  distinguished  cattle  breeders,  I  do  not  profess  to  be  suf- 
ficiently acquainted  with  the  subject,  to  advise  those  who  have 
a  more  full  and  experimental  knowledge  of  such  matters. 

I  would  also  willingly  detail  to  you  what  I  have  seen  in  the 
triumphs  of  the  orchardist,  and  expatiate  on  the  interesting 
operations  of  budding  and  grafting,  and  of  the  rnarv'elous  ope- 
rations of  restoring  both  bark  and  roots  to  mutilated  trees,  and 
shew  the  superiority  of  dendral  surgery,  over  the  more  destruc- 
tive operations  of  animal  surgery,  the  former  adding  limbs,  while 
the  latter  removes  them,  but  our  time  and  your  patience  must 
now  be  nearly  exhausted,  and  I  forbear.  I  leave  this  subject  with 
less  reluctance,  because  I  am  aware  that  many  members  of  this 
society  are  far  better  acquainted  with  the  arts  to  which  I  refer 
than  I  can  be,  for  I  have  been  but  a  looker  on,  while  the  far- 
mers have  done  the  work. 

I  cannot  close  this  portion  of  my  address  without  alluding 
to  the  labours  of  that  distinguished  agriculturist,  the  late  Elias 
Phinney,  Esq.,  of  Lexington,  a  gentleman  to  whom  I  am  in- 
debted for  many  of  the  observations  to  which  I  have  referred, 
and  whose  well  balanced  and  beautiful  orchards  stand  as  mon- 
uments of  his  unsm-passed  skill  in  the  management  of  trees. 

I  may  say,  with  truth,  that  in  every  department  of  agricul- 
tiu-e,  he  was  truly  a  model  farmer,  and  to  no  individual  am  I  so 
much  indebted  as  to  him  for  valuable  facts  and  useful  sugges- 
tions. I  would  also  acknowledge  my  obligations  to  that  scien- 
tific fanner,  Levi  Bartlett,  Esq.,  of  Wai-ner,  N.  H.,  and  to  Judge 
Hayes,  of  South  Berwick,  Elaine. 

I  have  devoted  the  largest  portion  of  this  address  to  sugges- 
tions concerning  the  best  methods  of  fertilizing  soils,  knowing 
that  on  such  improvements  the  profits  of  agriculture  must  ulti- 
mately depend.  With  an  increasing  population  the  value  of 
land  will  necessarily  rise,  and  in  order  to  render  it  valuable  for 
cidture,  it  must  be  improved  with  a  degree  of  skill  rivalling  that 
of  the  English  farmer. 

A  nation,  to  be  truly  independent,  should  be  able  to  produce 


29 

its  own  food  and  clothing,  and  draw  from  the  earth  the  metals 
required  for  the  prosecution  of  the  arts  of  civilized  life. 

The  first  requisite  is  food,  and  hence  the  nation's  energy 
should  be  devoted  to  the  encouragement  of  agriculture.  Man- 
ufactures and  commerce  depend  on  agriculture  and  mining, 
the  two  fundamental  arts  on  which  all  others  rest. 

The  destiny  of  our  country  is  indicated  by  the  nature,  extent, 
and  capacity  of  our  material  resources.  Enterprise,  skill,  and 
industry,  we  have  inherited  from  our  ancestors,  and  have  culti- 
vated with  success.  To  nature  we  must  look  for  materials  on 
which  we  are  to  operate,  and  we  may  with  confidence  and 
pride  point  to  the  extent  of  our  domain,  and  ask,  if  such  a 
country,  embracing  twenty  degrees  of  latitude  and  fifty-nine 
degrees  of  longitude,  with  every  natural  resource  that  could  be 
desired,  cannot  sustain  the  liundreds  of  millions  of  people  who 
are  destined  to  dwell  on  this  continent? 

Yes,  gentlemen,  we  have,  and  shall  have  "  bread  enough, 
and  to  spare,"  for  ages  yet  to  come,  and  for  millions  yet  un- 
born. And  with  the  augmenting  population  shall  spring  up 
new  improvements  in  the  arts,  and  agriculture  improved  and 
renovated  shall  be  able  to  sustain  in  abundance  every  man  to 
his  acre. 

Let  no  internal  dissentions  interrupt  our  progress,  or  sever 
the  union  of  our  confederacy.  Let  us  suppress  all  feelings  of 
hostility  to  our  fellow-men,  and  look  on  the  whole  human  fam- 
ily as  brethren,  not  only 

"  From  Mississippi's  proud  majestic  flood, 
To  where  St.  Croix  meanders  through  the  wood," 

but  farther  yet,  to  the  whole  family  of  man.  In  our  own  coun- 
try, let  patriotism  like  the  railroad's  iron  bands  unite  the  sister 
States,  never  to  be  disunited.  Let  the  sympathy  of  all  Ameri- 
cans flow,  like  the  streams  of  intelligence  along  the  electric 
wires,  which  are  rapidly  covering  our  continent  with  their  reti- 
culated web,  and  meet  with  a  response  in  all  parts  of  our  land. 
Then  with  brotherly  love  uniting  us  and  with  emulation  in 
well  doing,  under  the  providence  of  God,  we  may  look  forward, 
with  sublime  confidence,  that  we  may  become  a  great  people, 
"  zealous  of  good  works,"  and  our  country  shall  become  an  ex- 
ample to  the  world,  a  desirable  asylum  for  oppressed  man,  a 
home  of  the  brave,  the  just,  and  the  free. 


